Britney Spears Lost Her Reproductive Freedom, Tragically Her Case Is Not Unique
From the founding of this nation through the modern day, women and members of marginalized communities have faced forced sterilization and other reproductive coercion.
Jennifer Gerson, Barbara Rodriguez
Originally published by The 19th
When Britney Spears revealed on Wednesday that being under conservatorship had denied her the right to have her IUD removed and have another child, her words set off shockwaves of horrified disbelief.
“I deserve to have the same rights as anybody does, by having a child, a family, any of those things, and more so,” Spears said in Wednesday’s testimony to the judge.
But reproductive coercion is hardly unique to Spears: It’s a systemic component of an American system, both legal and cultural, that disproportionately impacts women and marginalized communit...